Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,”
which means Teacher.
Perhaps the most attractive, delightful characteristic of our Christian religion is the privilege of knowing Jesus as a human being, "one like us in all things but sin." Because he has been raised up and revealed to us as God, we can imagine him in any way that is human. He might be American or Irish or Chinese. He might be healthy, beautiful, disabled, sickly or misshaped -- or all of those. Because the Risen Lord is completely human in every way, Jesus is female and male, the fullness of gender identity -- whatever that is. (Maleness and femaleness, separately, are only partial revelations of our human nature; needing each other to be complete.)
Anyone who knows Jesus wants to love, cherish, caress, hold and cling to him. That may explain why some religious expressions sound so utterly insipid. I have seen pictures of Jesus with his European features and shoulder-length brown hair and french beard that shout "WHITE" at me. They're often named "Sacred Heart" or "Good Shepherd." Obviously, these pictures were painted by people of that ethnicity.
I have no reason to believe images of those European statues were created specifically to exclude anyone. But every parish church, Catholic or Protestant, has to create the images that will help them to know the Lord. Just as African-American families purchase black dolls for their children and take them to see black Santa Clauses, so should every congregation imagine a God to whom they would cling as Mary Magdalene welcomed her Risen Savior.
Because our God is a human being, we are free to imagine him in our own image and likeness. Every nation can and should portray Jesus in whatever fashion they find that helps them to see him as attractive, charming and adorable.
Images of today's gospel are often called, "Nolo me tangere." meaning, "Do not touch me!" or "Do not cling to me." I have to suspect the artists and their culture have a prohibition against public signs of affection. They would prefer a religion less emotional, cooler, more rational and predictable. They're not comfortable with women or men who display too much religiosity in public, especially if it threatens to be warm and wet like kisses, tears and sweating, overheated caresses.
But the Risen Lord invites precisely that kind of human delight in his presence.
I remember one convert who admitted he became Catholic because his own religious tradition had never encouraged, or even imagined, a comfortable, intimate relationship with God. His family practiced religion and loved God, but not like that. He admired our knowing God on "a first-name basis."
The Evangelists have shown us a God is human in every way except sin. (In fact, our sin inhibits our humanity and grace frees us from sin to be human.) It is right and good and safe, that we should love God.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.